Call to Action from Every Child Matters

[Texsox]

March 15, 2005

 

Dear James,

 

Thanks to you and other friends of children, members of Congress have received almost 5,000 calls advocating for a budget that helps, not harms, children and families.

 

Unfortunately, Congress still hasn’t gotten the message that every child matters. The Senate and House Budget Committees passed their respective budgets last week. Both budgets will put us on a path that will require budget cuts to proven programs that help children and families. The full Senate and House will be voting on their respective budgets this week. For a budget update and overview, follow this link: http://www.chn.org/humanneeds/050311a.html

 

Call your member of Congress on March 15th and 16th. Use state-specific data to tell your Senators that we need a budget that invests in America’s children, not one that cuts programs for children and families. To contact your member of Congress, use this toll-free number, 1-800-247-2971 on March 15th or 16th, call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or follow this link: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/

Budget Resources:

-House Budget Proposal State-by-State Analysis, click here.

-Bush Budget State-by-State Analysis, click here and find your state on the map.

 

 

 

 

Overview of Senate and House Budgets

 

Senate Budget House Budget

 

Deep cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps and other programs that help children and families.

These programs would be cut by $32 billion over five years. The Medicaid cut could be as much as $15 billion.

These programs would be cut by $68.6 billion over the next five years. The Medicaid cut could be as much as $20 billion.

 

Deep cuts to important children's programs, including education, housing, Head Start, and child care.

These programs would be cut by $207 billion over five years. In 2010 alone, those cuts amount to 13 percent.

These programs would be cut by $216 billion over five years. In 2010 alone, those cuts amount to 14 percent.

 

More tax breaks for the wealthy.

$70 billion in new tax breaks over 5-years.

$106 billion in new tax breaks over 5-years.

 

Detailed Budget Analyses: Senate:

-Overview of Budget Proposal, click here.

-Medicaid Cuts in Senate, click here.

 

 

House:

-Overview of Budget Proposal, click here.

-Medicaid Cuts in House, click here.

-State-by-State House Budget Analysis, click here.

 

 

 

Next Steps In the Congressional Budget Fight:

After the Senate and House pass their respective budgets, the differences must be worked out in a Senate-House conference, and then the conferenced budget will be voted on again by the full Senate and House before being adopted.

 

Senator John Kerry Introduces "KidsFirst" Health Initiative (S. 114)

 

Nearly 25 million children were without health insurance for all or part of 2002 and 2003. That’s simply unacceptable in the world’s most powerful and wealthy nation.

 

In response to this national disgrace, Senator John Kerry has introduced S.114, the “Kids First Act of 2005” which would cover every uninsured child in America under 21.

 

We invite you to join a grassroots campaign to win passage of this historic legislation. You will be joining with thousands of individuals and organizations who believe that it is morally unacceptable to allow any child to go without medical care and who recognize that the long term economic benefits to society greatly outweigh any costs. The bill already has been endorsed by such organizations as the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, National Association of Children’s Hospitals, March of Dimes, and the National Association of Community Health Centers.

 

With your help, we can pass legislation to insure every child. You can help by:

 

Becoming a citizen co-sponsor of the KidsFirst Act. Just follow this link: http://www.johnkerry.com/petition/kidsfirst.php?source=500

Ask your members of Congress to co-sponsor “KidsFirst” (S.114). To contact your member of Congress, just follow this link: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/

 

Sen. John Kerry speaking at media event.

KIDS FIRST ACT

To learn more, just click on the items below:

- "KidsFirst" bill summary.

- Transcript of "KidsFirst" supporters.

- Listen to messages of supporters.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your help in making children a political priority.

 

Sincerely,

 

Michael Petit

President and Founder

[Soxy]

Hahaha, I read it anyway.

[southsider2k5]

Out of curiosity are these real dollar cuts, or are the cuts in projections?

[Texsox]

Out of curiosity are these real dollar cuts, or are the cuts in projections?

 

Cynic alert -- Depends on who is talking and which would help their cause.

 

If these were Iraqi kids, no problem, we have an unlimited budget for them.

[mreye]

Out of curiosity are these real dollar cuts, or are the cuts in projections?

Exactly! It's a cut in the program's annual budget increase. Not an actual cut!

 

Call me a synic, Tex. It's the truth.

[Texsox]

Exactly! It's a cut in the program's annual budget increase. Not an actual cut!

 

Call me a synic, Tex. It's the truth.

 

Where does it say it is a cut in the increase? Even if it is a cut in the increase, inflation and needs increase, so it would still be a cut.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Did you really think a GOP controlled Congress was not going to reign in spending in the next decade?

 

We're competing in a no-holds barred global economy where the child labor that was used during the industrial revolution looks miniscule by today's standards. You can't have it both ways. You can't embrace a capitalistic system that strengthens inequality amongst the masses & then desire a social system that strengthens equality. The two are diametrically opposed.

 

The US is facing a s***-storm of problems just to keep afloat in the global economy two decades from now. One of which is the antiquated tax system. If you look at the nations running trade surpluses right now few of them have income tax systems & nearly all of them have national sales taxes. This places the US at a severe disadvantage because of the on-demand delivery of tax revenue these other nations are benefiting from.

 

For ex, let's take a small example of a US retailer manufacturing a clock radio line in Asia for the US market. Any sale that is encurred whether it be to obtain materials or in the process of production & distribution is taxed. This replaces the need for corporate & individual income taxes. That tax revenue is then used to subsidize state sponsored projects that further the economic growth of the nation. That cyclical relationship occurs in day time vs annual time.

 

This is one of the reasons new support is growing in the GOP ranks to replace the income tax system with a new sales based tax systems both at the state & federal levels. This is an interesting facet because it is hard for big business in America to argue against this in light of the global economy to retain their current advantages with the income tax system. Keep in mind there would be few right offs in a sales based system. More important foreign corps could no longer avoid paying taxes altogether. The number of foreign corps that register to do business in the US & just avoid paying taxes altogether before defaulting into dissolution is alarming.

It's so easy to do.

 

My advice to the socialists in America who still care about the lives of everyday Americans is to concentrate on fixing Made in America first to increase tax revenue the right way & then look at what social problems you can spend $ on in the future.

Edited March 16, 2005 by JUGGERNAUT

[mreye]

Where does it say it is a cut in the increase? Even if it is a cut in the increase, inflation and needs increase, so it would still be a cut.

Because I've heard this arguement before from the left. It's a scare tactic. Yes, there's inflation, but the increase is always greater than inflation. How the federal budget can continually rise greater than the average American's raise does is beside me. They should get the same increase/decrease we get.